I dropped in at the express command of my liege-lord, digitalprimate. Think of me as a furry little cap-trooper.

You've taken digitalprimate's shilling, then?

Worse. I've drunk his Martinis. Eaten his lamb. It's a covenant.

But you stayed.

Came to pillage, stayed for the hugs, uhh, rum! RUM!

*cough*

Yarrgh. 'Vast haulin'.

What's your connection to William Gibson?

Oooh. That's complicated. It's...culinary.

And Neil Gaiman?

Comic books. Borrowed the Neverwheres in a rare attempt to improve myself. May have worked, and it was cheaper than re-plastering, anyway.

You have a girly cat avatar. Are you a chick? Or some kind of sissy?

Wasn't a chick the last time I checked the Sears catalogue, but I'm a HUGE sissy. I regularly run away from little children. Mostly 'cause I can't stand to smell them burn.

Do you actually hate children that much??

It's not hatred; they're just really hard to baste.

How old and how mean are you?

Everything's relative. I've gotten the "grumpy old bastard" tag hung on me more than once. I am older than most people I've associated with as an adult, and I'm way more sociopathic than 98% of shotgun-toting hermits I know who've disconnected their alarms and spend their weekends lurking in darkened parlors behind unlocked doors waiting for burglars to blunder in and trip the...what was the question?

remotepush seems to be a real burr under your saddle. What the fuck's that all about? Aren't you all friends over there?

Aww, it's just his refusal to indent and separate paragraphs, or to use caps to begin sentences with. Nothing a month with my third-grade English teacher Mrs. Hodgins couldn't fix; damn, but that woman could handle a set of electrodes.

Been reading your threads. You actually listen to Alice In Chains and Stone Temple Pilots?

So does this mean you and Gibson have partaken of child-roast together? Another covenant?

Oh....the rum here is mine. All of it.

MINE! YAHRRRR!!!

ahem

You just have your nice whiskey sonny-me-lad.

______________________Fandangling across the moony sky,went the Beezee bold as brass,side-saddle she sat, on a big painted bat,shooting moonbeams out of her a(censored)e.~Joe________________________ Isn't sanity really just a one trick pony, anyway? I mean, all you get is one trick, rational thinking! But when you're good and crazy¦ooh ooh ooh the sky's the limit!

Long story. A lifetime ago me and a friend went to Steak'n'Shake late at night. I had the cheese fries, a side salad and a coke. I was wearing my favorite green/gold nailpolish. I was wearing Tea Rose perfume. It was a slow night in the Steak'n'Shake; not a lot of folks there at all. When we left, weather conditions had produced a fine dew on everything outside -- including my car. As we approached the car, we saw that someone had written "aita pata" in the dew on my trunk. Neither of us had any clue whatsoever what that meant. It was one of many unsolved mysteries in our high school years.

Skip forward about 5 years. I'm in college, on the couch with my roommate's laptop, signing up for my first email account. I go through username after username after username -- every single damned one I wanted was taken. GAH! So I scrounge around the brain hunting for some obscure phrase I could use to represent myself. I remembered "aita pata." Hotmail didn't allow spaces, and I didn't know about the underscore trick, so I became Aitapata.

Skip forward a few more years. I'm chatting with a random IM buddy. He asks me if I know what "aitapata" means. No!! Tell me! ...he says it's a latino phrase for "she devil." Huh.

Why did you join the board?

At the time, Neil was coming to my library and I had been looking up a list of his awards to include in my introduction speech (what a mess that turned out to be). My first post was a hint at the yet-unannounced appearance. (You can read about Neil's take on the event here)

Why did you stay?

The people I met here were wildly creative and funny and mostly DEMOCRATS. Good Lord, I've never felt so alienated and so much like a TARGET as I did when living in South Florida. Even my best friend was a Republican. I was yearning for souls akin to my own.

But six years? Really? Why aren't you gone yet?

This board is kinda like the siblings I never had. There's spats and disagreements, but blood, even virtual blood, is thicker than ether.

Well, that, and I peed on the board and claimed it. This one is mine. I don't give up my things that easily.

What's the deal with the "Technical Services Administrator" title?

I'm still a mod, I'm just no longer a Social Mod. I took that service out of my job description. Which means I can ignore whoever I want to and not feel a smidgen of guilt or anxiety about it. I do the behind-the-scenes stuff - investigating technical problems, figuring out how mass emails work, fixing log-in problems, being the go-between with Groupee and it seems being the go-between with Neil People. And so on.

But I've seen you over there... at the Gibson Board. What's going on with that?

I am not cheating on the Board. As the Gibson Board is a long-lost sibling of the Gaiman board, I'm just getting to know the rest of the family. It's all kosher, honest. They're a safe vacation board for me when I'm getting too wound up with this one.

What was your high school yearbook quote?

"Mountain Dew is the essence of life."

And what would your yearbook quote be now?

"My heart doctor blames it all on the Mountain Dew."

What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

I had some INCREDIBLE cinnamon ice cream one night at a library convention in Daytona Beach, and I've never been able to find such a cinnamon ice cream again. Normally, I like the blueberry cheesecake icecream.

What's your goal in life?

To read "Finnegan's Wake."

What's your favorite Neil book?

The entirety of the Sandman series. Sandman forged some neural pathways that hadn't existed before. It was the pair of fairy glasses that showed me a whole new world.

Why aren't you on the board as much as you used to be?

Work got more intense (in the good, satisfying way) and I'm STILL in grad school, so that eats up a lot of time.

WTF was with that whole "What's your favorite pie" question when I registered?

A person's pie preference says a lot about a person. I really do read all the newly registered user's profiles and check out how they answered that question.

What's up with your username?Honestly, I don't know anymore. It's my sign and a time of day I enjoy. I don't really put all that much stock into astrology, although I found it an interesting diversion when I was fifteen, which is about how long I've been using the name (I'm 28). I am very much a typical Cancerian. I warm up to people slowly, but after I do, I'm fiercely loyal. I prefer thoughtful conversations and connecting to people over small talk and superficiality, which tends to make people think I'm shy.Why did you join the board?I was bored? I think I was looking up Sandman or American Gods stuff. I stumbled across the silly people here and pretty much without reading anything else, I registered and made some rude comment on the intimate uses of Altoids. It went over surprisingly well, and I figured, these are my people.Why don't you post as much anymore?Been busy. I was in a pretty low period of my life when I joined the board and I had a lot of free time. These days, school keeps me pretty busy during the most active times on the board.What are you studying?I'm getting a master's degree in cell and molecular biology. I study pond scum in my lab. More specifically, I'm looking into transport of magnesium in the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis. To my knowledge, I am the only person in the world working on this topic. I'm horny just thinking about it.Why is this important?Magnesium is an important mineral in all living things and especially important in photosynthetic organisms, such as cyanobacteria, which create a large proportion of the oxygen we breathe. Thus, how a cell takes up magnesium is an interesting area of study. Furthermore, photosynthesis is accompanied by a flux of magnesium across the photosynthetic membrane. I have a hunch that my transporters are the route through which this flux takes place. Don't worry. No one else understands what I'm talking about either. It's sexy. Trust me.What's wrong with your hand?I have a genetic disorder called polydactyly, which incidentally, is one of my favorite words. How many other words have three Y's in them? Anyway, I was born with an extra thumb on my right hand. When my family came to the States, the third thumb was removed. I have a memory of a doctor chopping it off with a chef's knife. Obviously, this memory is false. However, since I was a small child, I was told that the doctors cut off my thumb. Having no knowledge of standard surgical procedures, that was the image my three year old brain concocted to go with the explanation. It has stuck with me all these years.Do you remember having a third thumb?Although I was really young at the time it was removed, yes. It was very much of reduced size and had limited motion. The remaining thumb on my right hand still doesn't have the full range of motion a normal digit would. Thus, I hate the X-Box controller with the analog stick set very far from the shoulder buttons. I can't reach it comfortably.Like, as in Han Solo?Gee. Never heard that one before.

------"Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying 'yes' begins things. Saying 'yes' is how things grow. Saying 'yes' leads to knowledge." ~Stephen Colbert

*sigh* no. My username pre-empted all the Harry Potterness. On a forum I frequented loooooong ago, I lost my password when my username was 'Mark'. So I created an alternate, which I called 'Dark Mark'. Just kind of stuck.

I see. And how did you stumble upon this board?

Several years ago I was a phenomenal Terry Pratchett fan, and through that I found Good Omens, and I think it was about then I googled and found this board.

Why have you stayed?

When I joined it was a frantically busy board and so there was lots to read and almost everyone was amazingly entertaining. I became friends with quite a few, and now it seems I have become a familiar site to people here.

So what's your favourite Gaiman book?

American Gods. I'm not very good at dissecting 'symbolism' and literary criticism, but I just enjoy it.

What's with the Member Title?

Not long ago my avatar was the TARDIS on the Bayeux Tapestry. The Honourable and Learned Mods drew inspiration, I guess...

Doctor Who? Seriously?

Yes.

Old and new?

Yep.

Why?

I think it's because I love old things that evolve...Doctor Who is 45 years old next year and it's morphed and switched and changed with the times to stay fresh, and I love watching the old stuff because it can be a mixture of hilariously poor lines and FX and some clever stories.

What's your goal in life?

Not sure, depends if it is still possible when I get old enough, but to be recognised enough to be ennobled and become a peer of the Realm. Cos that would be neat.

What about jobwise?

I'd love to become some kind of authority on constitutional affairs. It's one of my geekgasms.

Age/height/eye color/weight/blood type/sign?

24/5'10/blue/too much/O+/Capricorn

This message has been edited. Last edited by: D M, January 28, 2009 07:02 AM

---"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" - H. L. Mencken

So, you're Dutch.YesSmoke pot a lot?No. Actually not for twelve yearsYeah right.Yes. Right.But isn't pot legal there?Technically: no. It's condoned.And prostitution?Yes. Also condoned, and no. Before you ask.So what're you doing here?Well I gravitated here from the Tori Amos boards about five years ago. I guess I needed a new cyber-home. Why'd you stick around so long?Technically I didn't. I was off the boards for months at a time. Always came back though.So will you send me some pot?No.So, do y'all live in houseboats?Obviously we don't all live in houseboats. Next question.What got you into Neil Gaimans work?Well I can't really remember. I seem to remember a friend telling me that the "Neil" Tori was talking about in her songs was an author called Neil Gaiman. The first book I read by him was probably Neverwhere. So, about sending me some pot...Sod off.

~You are a *Taverner*.Sometimes patrons want to go where everybody knows their names, though it helps when half of them are named John. When people want to celebrate, or commiserate, they gather to your establishment. You provide the atmosphere, the warmth, rum, and even an ear to bend. Did I mention the rum? Years before the language will be mangled with terms like facilitator and networking and interpersonal communication, you've overseen it all, and broken up a few bar fights, to boot.~-Royko

Posts: 8667 | Location: Just north of Earth | Registered: July 02, 2002

~You are a *Taverner*.Sometimes patrons want to go where everybody knows their names, though it helps when half of them are named John. When people want to celebrate, or commiserate, they gather to your establishment. You provide the atmosphere, the warmth, rum, and even an ear to bend. Did I mention the rum? Years before the language will be mangled with terms like facilitator and networking and interpersonal communication, you've overseen it all, and broken up a few bar fights, to boot.~-Royko

Posts: 8667 | Location: Just north of Earth | Registered: July 02, 2002

A few years ago I stopped off in the Borders in Pentagon City to pick up a couple items. I was in my "casual" clothes, which consisted of a Dropkick Murphys t-shirt, a utilikilt, and Docs. I pick up the two items I was after (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and Nevermind the Bollocks) and proceed to the checkout. The girl at the counter took a look at what I was buying, looked at me (and my clothes), and called over to her co-worker "Look what we have here - an intellectual hooligan."

For a while my user name was "the Intellectual Hooligan." One day I wasn't feeling particularly intellectual, so I changed it, and it has stuck since then.

But you're not really a hooligan are you?

Well, it depends on how you define hooligan. I do follow football, and I have been involved in football related violence (well, trying to keep another Chelsea fan from beating the living hades out of someone). I also have Chelsea's logo tattooed on my shoulder. So I guess you could say I'm a semi-hooligan.

Well, then shouldn't your name be "the not-quite-so-intellectual semi-hooligan"?

Yeah, but that's getting pretty long.

So, how'd you come to the board?

Saw an opportunity for a bad joke, couldn't pass it up. Used to be a thread on the other works board about neverwheres around the world - basically what cities had subway systems that could be used for neverwheres. I made a comment that I wouldn't want to know what the characteristic of DC's Foggy Bottom would be.

Â¿So where's your accent from?Nowhere. My accent is from several places, but what you really want to know is where I come from, but want to be polite about asking. News flash: it's not polite to go to a total stranger and ask them whatever the hell you find yourself wondering.

So... where do you come from? *sigh* Spain.

We've just been to Spain, we were in [insert tourist-infested artifitial town from the Mediterranean coast]. Is it near? Good for you. And no, it's not near, it's a big country twice the size of the UK.

So why on earth did you decided to come to Scotland? Answer 1: Remember the politeness issue? Maybe you'd like to start thinking about it...Answer 2 (for friends, friends of friends and people genuinely interested in me]: I knew Edinburgh already and fell in love with it, at the same time I was considering studying something in the UK and living abroad for a while. There was a programme over here I was interested in, so it made sense to come.

And how long are you planning on staying here? Are you going back? Do you miss it? My friends and family ask me those questions back home and I hate it, but at least THEY have a reason for their interest.

What do you for a living? Answer 1: What do YOU do? Where were you born? Why and when did you move here? Are you in a relationship? Who do you live with? What are your goals and dreams? What's your most secret sexual fantasy? What's your favourite Spice Girl?Answer 2 for relevant situations: I'm a translator and, sometimes, an interpreter.

What do you translate? Leaflets, websites, books, films, games... Recently I decided to REALLY try to get into literary tanslation, coz that why I became a translator dammit.

So you put the voice for the actors on TV? So cool! No. I'm a translator, not a dubbing actor. I translate the words on paper.

Why is everything so badly translated? I always hear so many mistakes. There's PhD's that deal with your question. Check them out.

Why don't you try getting in the European Union, they always need translators there. Really? I had no idea. I also thank you for your input on my professional career.

Why the Marilyn icon? Are you conceited? I don't think so. When I joined, there were no avatars. Then the Board changed and everyone had these really cool avatars that suited them SO well! I couldn't think of anything that suited me, that I'd want to represent me all the time. At the same time, it was Marilyn's death anniversary and she was in the news, and I found myself musing again about how much I liked her, as an icon, and all the pictures of her and how many of them were there and how different they all were... So it hit me: it could be an image that I liked, that could always stay the same and be different at the same time. And in that it suits me.Plus, it makes me look sexy and glamorous by association

How come you've been talking to people you've never met for 6 years?This is a unique place where all sorts of people talk about all sorts of things. You don't get that range of variety, randomness and intelligence in real life.

You are a Tradesman. Long before labor unions, your guilds were powerful enough to make a free-market capitalist run away screaming. Who controls the British Crown? Who keeps the metric system down? You do, you do.

How that? It is a concept, not a physical place. It is all the memory and wires, the internet and some more. I stay in touch with work and friends using this concept of cyberspace.

Ah. But you must be somewhere, you know physically. Where do you sleep? I have a few, let's call them safe-houses, spread all over the world. Mainly Europe though.

They say that you are Austrian? I was born there.

But you don't live there? I have safe houses there.

And right now, you are in one of them? No. I spend very little time there these days.

You are writing software for a living? Well, yes. But it is less and less coding, really, I spent most of the time at work specifying.

Is it true that you write protocols, for some, institutions? Not anymore.

But you did. Can you tell us about it? I am afraid, I am not allowed to.

What are you doing now? Pattern Recognition.

That sounds like straight out of a William Gibson novel? Yes, it does. But trust me, it's not.

There seem to be a connection between you and William Gibson's work, your nickname, isn't that a reference? Yes it is a reference to Neuromancer, well spotted. Young girls usually think its romantic, which suited me in my late teens, I guess, but grown more and more annoying. Neu is the German word for new, and back then I used to be a fan of 18th century romanticism.

And your avatar, are you a big fan of the Matrix trilogy? No. It is actually not related at all. I changed it since, but the basic layout predates the first move.

So you consider yourself a technological orientated person? You mean like in high tech toys?

Yes. Most people think you are a tech geek. Do you spend lots of money on high-tech toys? I wouldn't consider myself a high-tech-geek. I am technology aware, kind of part of my job. But I do not accumulate lots of tech-toys. I recently bought a fancy phone, which ties in with the cyberspace concept and how I communicate these days. But I have no plans to replace it when a new model comes out. I do have a DVD player and a surround system, but many people have that. I am the kind of person who prefers to read a book on paper, rather than on a liquid crystal screen, if you know what I mean.

So what other things do you like? I like sailing, silently pulled through the ocean by the power of wind, just the whisper of rippling waves I like that. I also like books, in all forms and sizes, just as long as they are interesting to read. I kind of enjoy working with wood, designing and building stuff. And as many will be able to tell you, I am a petrol head.

Indeed, so you like posh cars? Posh? Interesting. I like simple, focused cars. I have a soft spot for old-timers, in particular British roadsters from the 50s and 60s. But personally prefer modern reincarnations of them. The same simple concept, but more useable on a day to day basis. No point in having a car if you not going to drive it.

This is the Neil Gaiman Board, what is your connection to him? Do you like his books? I read American God's, was good, I really need to read more of him. I kind of dig his style, the 80s leather jackets and jeans. Wish I would be brave enough to still wear that.

I thought you would be more of a coat guy? I am.

But?

____________________________________________Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else we do. - Donald Knuth

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Domi, May 20, 2011 01:15 AM

____________________________________________________I'm thinking that a lot of my internal conflict and malaise comes from the tension between the life I ACTUALLY want to live, and the stories I'd love to be able to tell? - T-Rex, qwantz.com

Long story. A lifetime ago me and a friend went to Steak'n'Shake late at night. I had the cheese fries, a side salad and a coke. I was wearing my favorite green/gold nailpolish. I was wearing Tea Rose perfume. It was a slow night in the Steak'n'Shake; not a lot of folks there at all. When we left, weather conditions had produced a fine dew on everything outside -- including my car. As we approached the car, we saw that someone had written "aita pata" in the dew on my trunk. Neither of us had any clue whatsoever what that meant. It was one of many unsolved mysteries in our high school years.

Skip forward about 5 years. I'm in college, on the couch with my roommate's laptop, signing up for my first email account. I go through username after username after username -- every single damned one I wanted was taken. GAH! So I scrounge around the brain hunting for some obscure phrase I could use to represent myself. I remembered "aita pata." Hotmail didn't allow spaces, and I didn't know about the underscore trick, so I became Aitapata.

Skip forward a few more years. I'm chatting with a random IM buddy. He asks me if I know what "aitapata" means. No!! Tell me! ...he says it's a latino phrase for "she devil." Huh.